


Have your cake and eat it too

by Mad_Merry



Series: What Alice wants, Alice gets [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Families of Choice, Gen, New Family, Past Abuse, Post-Canon, Slice of Life, Spoilers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-27 01:16:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15013526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mad_Merry/pseuds/Mad_Merry
Summary: Alice wants a lot of things. Right now, she really wants some cake.





	Have your cake and eat it too

Alice always had the capacity to want more than Kara. It was in her programming, to want and ask like a normal human child who followed their impulses and their emotions, innocent to the complexities of life and all it offers.

Alice wasn’t the average child; she’d seen more than she should have, hurt more than she should have, and silenced many of her own desires in fear of retribution by Todd. There had been quieter ones that she couldn’t help, designed to be emotionally delicate, layered on by the cruelty of her supposed father’s hand, all encompassing fear and misery that no child should experience.

She had wanted love, wanted acceptance, and reassurance.

When she’d been given those things, safe and warm in the embrace of who she considered her parents, it opened doors that a child struggles to grasp. Before that, life was shivering in the throes of a storm, running from strangers and police that wanted to take the few things Alice had from her. It was fire, it was fear and stress. Now, _now_ life was more mundane, yet to her every day, every hour was full of boundless opportunities and possibilities. She could go to school, with other children, with homework and backpacks and recess. And they like her, she plays with the boys and girls in her class, gets invited to birthday parties and sleepovers.

She can have her own room, decorated the way she wants it. Soft pink walls, big windows and every available surface covered with drawings that recorded all her favorite moments of life. And when she wants to be alone, not alone like before, lonely and isolated, but left to her own peace, the door means something to the people on the other side.

Kara and Luther have jobs, they have their own place to live and be who they want to be, and it's safe.

She has freedom, she has her love and acceptance, and she’s happy.

But as time goes, she starts to want other things. Things other kids at school have, like toys and games and books, things that takes her a lot of courage to ask for, but met with enthusiasm and blinding smiles. _Of course you can have those_. Luther, especially likes to gently knock on the door of her room, his dark eyes alight with secondhand joy when he shows her the newest stuffed animal he’s found her. 

Kara is always happy to get her a new book, ranging from short stories to more complex and immersive, lying in her newest fort with her, the once domestic android’s voice sweet and soothing as she reads to Alice. It's perfect, it's normal, and she loves when it's the three of them crammed together.

More importantly, Alice starts to want things much like the two adult androids want. She wants her hot/cold sensitivity, able to feel the bite of winter when Kara walks her out to her bus. Able to feel the glowing warmth of the sun on her skin as she and Luther lounge in the park. She wants to feel the coolness of water when she jumps into her friends’ pool, feel the comforting heat of a hot cocoa mug against her hands, she even wants the beating heat of summer on her face, because to her that discomfort is as much part of living as all the luxury.

She wants to sleep, wants the fleeting images of dreams in her mind when she wakes to the soft touch of Luther’s hand on her shoulder. Wants the remaining moments of grogginess as they both kiss her goodbye for a day of school. To drift off to her parents’ easy breathing, or the steady whirring of their mechanics inside their chests.

And, oddly enough, as of late what she wants the most is to eat.

Granted, she already eats; she eats lunch at school with her friends around her, drinking her milk even if it doesn’t give her the same benefits as the other kids in her class. And Kara is always happy to make dinner for her, never asks her to deactivate the hunger because Kara is amazing, loving, and must already know Alice values being able to do such a thing.

But, she wants to explore eating. Or more, she wants to experience sweets. She wants treats; candy, cookies, cake. All these things she sees in books and shows that if she could salivate, she’s sure her mouth would be watering at the sight. Something Kara doesn’t quite understand just yet, since her memory database has always been nutritious, healthy meals, even as she learns more fun recipes from other moms.They never figured out what Luther’s original purpose was, but it doesn’t matter when he humors the little girls’ newest fascination, takes her for walks downtown to watch them stock the display case full of all the things she’s aching for. Cakes almost as tall as her, iced flawlessly, intricate piped designs that make them almost too pretty to eat. Cookies stuffed with more things than she can name just yet, other desserts she doesn’t know the name of, but if Luther knows, he happily tells her all about them. Chocolates, hard candies, gummies, too many to choose from and too many to dream of.

“Luther,” She asks one day, up high on the man’s shoulders in the early touches of spring. It’s their third year in Canada, nothing but good news coming from Markus back in Detroit, full of promise and progression that means happiness for their people. “How come humans make so many different cakes?” They had passed the bakery again, Alice having learned what a pie was, and admiring all the different fillings, the delicious smells coming from the ovens inside.

“Hm, you know, I never thought about it.” The larger android admits, voice light and hands holding onto Alice’s ankles to keep her in place. It wasn’t entirely needed, but they both liked the small action of precaution. “Because they can, I imagine. If people really want something, they’ll make it themselves if they have to. Or they make do with what they have and it becomes something they enjoy.”

“Luther?”

“Yes, Alice?”

“I really want a cake.” The man’s laughter is louder than she’s ever heard from him, unbidden and warm just like the rest of him. It pulls a smile from her, arms on top of his head and body language easy as they make their way home.

“Then a cake you will get, little one.”

Coming home to the smell of something cooking wasn’t unusual, Kara had taken quite a liking to the low and slow method of preparing meals after another mother showed her a crockpot. Stews, soups, even casseroles had all been used to experiment the capabilities, much to Alice’s joy, who was the only guinea pig for her mother figure to use.This however, was not the smell of long broiled meat, or roasted vegetables, not even bubbling sauce. This was something...sweeter, softer, warming the apartment into something almost cozy. It reminded her of one of her friends’ mother’s candles

“Kara?” The child android calls, bending forward to try and peer into the kitchen from the entry way. She hadn’t been outside to greet her at the bus stop, and Luther was at work, something that only happens every so often, what if both of the adults always so keen to keep her safe, even in the smallest of ways.

Kara appears from the kitchen, something white smudged on her face and eyes sparkling with barely contained excitement. Without the fears that had been pressing against the ex-domestic android’s shoulders, she could glow so beautifully with joy. Alice had always felt better when she smiled, even shackled by her coding, it made the child’s day better to know she had a friend who tried to bring a little bit of sunshine in her once cloudy existence.

This was different though. This was almost the same level of energy as when Luther found the apartment, as when she’d been invited to her first PTA meeting. This was new experience level happiness. Something that’s horribly contagious, has Alice smiling before she knows why she’s smiling.

“Alice! Come here, come here! I have something for you.” Kara hurries towards her, hands taking her smaller ones and starting to tug her toward the kitchen.

“But Kara, my homework--”

“Just five minutes, I promise.” Their combined steps are hurried, the older android taking her around the barrier that breaks their living space from their kitchen. She jumps when a hand comes to cover her eyes, Kara’s other gently pushing her on the back farther into the cooking area. She maneuvers the child until she’s standing somewhere in the kitchen, the anticipation starting to eat away at little Alice’s imagination.

“Okay, are you ready?” She nods to her caretakers words, “keep your eyes closed.”

“Aw but _Kara--_ ”

“Pretty please?” The woman pleads, laughter following when Alice gives a long suffering noise, but does as she’s asked, pursing her lips when Kara’s hand pulls back. The child’s pump is going wild, but it’s not from stress, making the feeling less unpleasant and more part of the experience. Something clatters, a beat of silence and a foreign sound she can’t distinguish, starting to bounce in place.

“Hold your hand out,” It’s done immediately, arms shot straight forward and palms open to the air. Something cool is placed on top of her hands. Dry, smooth, and it only takes a moment for her processes to distinguish it’s….one of their plates?

“Okay, open your eyes!”

It takes a moment to understand what she’s looking at. It’s brown, broken by white on the side, more in the middle of it, an expertly sliced piece of strawberry sitting on top of another bed of white.

“This is--”

“Cake! Yes!” Kara is now the one not able to help herself, jumping in place as she claps, her fingers linking together as she watches her favorite person’s face go slack in surprise. “I asked Andre’s mom for a recipe, I wanted to surprise you!”

Emotions well into the child’s chest, that familiar tightness in her throat that follows tears overwhelming her as she peers down at the single slice of cake. The thing she’s been wanting for the past few weeks, and Kara had--

“You made this..for me?”

“Of course, Alice.” The older woman carefully takes the plate away to set it on the table behind her, kneeling down to take hold of her...daughter’s shoulders. Yes, Alice is her daughter. In every sense of the word besides biological, and Kara was her mom in all the ways that mattered. “Luther told me how much you like going to the bakery, and, well, it made me really realize you’ve never had goodies,” There had been junk in Todd’s house of course, but not the same type of things that give children joy. Pizza boxes, greasy chinese food containers, potato chips and instant meals that had more salt than ingredients. Those were not the same as they gracefully latticed pies in the windows of the bakery, the fascinating pull of taffy on big hooks, not even the way chocolate melted in her friend’s hands.

They brought kids and adults alike so much joy, so much excitement, a foreign concept that Alice wanted desperately to feel.

And what Alice wants, her guardians decided, Alice gets.

Kara’s thumb brushes against her cheek, affection in her blue eyes, and Alice has to swallow the fresh wave of feelings that hit her.

“And it’s..it’s mine?” An eager nod, the woman’s smile growing into a full grin.

“All yours. But,” A lilt of firmness in her voice, an elegant finger pointing to the ceiling in a sign of earned authority. “Like any kid, you will eat proper food first, and cake will be dessert only.”

“Thank you Kara!” Arms wrap around the woman’s neck, the hug tight and returned with the same vigor, Alice’s joy so tangible it feels like it lightens the room. “Thank you, thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome, Alice.”

The cake is more than anything she could have imagined. Rich chocolate, smooth and sweet icing and a pleasant pop from the tartness of the strawberry. It’s amazing, it’s wonderful, and it’s hers, Luther muffling laughter as he watches the child attempt to lick the plate while Kara isn’t looking, not wanting it to end, even as she brushes her teeth and kisses her parents goodnight.

Until, she remembers, there’s a whole cake sitting well preserved in the fridge now.

Just for her. And she was happy. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wish I could say this was a plan, but it was not. I wasn't expecting to enjoy Detroit: Become Human as much as I did. And I was definitely not prepared to fall in love with the self-made family trio that I will now protect with all my will.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!


End file.
